A simple and improved method to determine cell viability in burn-injured tissue

Area of Science:

• Biomedical research
• Histopathology
• Wound healing studies

Background:

• Assessing cell viability is crucial for understanding burn injury and wound healing.
• Current methods, like hematoxylin and eosin staining, rely on subjective visualization for burn depth determination.
• A need exists for objective and simplified methods to evaluate cell viability in burn research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simplified lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) staining protocol.
• To accurately identify viable cells in frozen sections of human burn tissue for research applications.
• To provide an unambiguous method for assessing cellular viability in burn injuries.

Main Methods:

• Human burn tissue was processed for histologic evaluation after surgical excision.
• Tissues underwent fixation, sucrose incubation, and cryopreservation.
• A novel LDH staining method was developed and assessed for stability and cellular viability detection.

Main Results:

• LDH staining revealed cellular viability throughout deep partial thickness burn tissue, excluding the superficial layer.
• Clear demarcation of viable cells was observed with LDH staining.
• Results were consistent immediately after staining and one month later, indicating stain stability.

Conclusions:

• The developed simplified LDH staining protocol unambiguously identifies viable cells in burn-injured tissue.
• This method enhances the assessment of cellular viability in deep partial and full thickness burns.
• The protocol offers a valuable tool for burn research, improving objective evaluation of tissue viability.